Jack, a 4-year-old pit bull, was shot and killed during an encounter with San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies near San Marcos on April 3, 2013.
Photo courtesy of Callie Ford

SAN MARCOS  The gunshots caught Cynthia Ford by surprise.

On a quiet evening in April 2013, she was walking her dog and her daughter’s dogs in hills on the outskirts of San Marcos. Jack, her daughter’s 4-year-old pit bull, ran ahead and rounded a corner.

Then Ford heard loud cracks.

She raced to the scene. “What are you doing?” she yelled at the shooters.

They were sheriff’s deputies.

Jack was one of more than 50 dogs shot by law enforcement officers in San Diego County since 2010. “Puppycide,” as some call it, occurs across the country. While no official agency has compiled comprehensive national figures on these incidents, they have spurred everything from a U.S. Department of Justice program to a “Dogs shot by police” Facebook page with more than 12,500 “likes.”

But who’s really to blame? Law enforcement officers often say that loose dogs rush them in a threatening manner. Owners often dispute that, and accuse authorities of being trigger-happy.

Last summer, North County dog advocate Robbie Benson had had enough. The day after a bystander’s video of a fatal dog shooting in Los Angeles County went viral, she sent an angry email to sheriff’s officials in San Marcos. Pointing to Jack’s death, she said a reasonable solution must be found.

Benson expected to be rejected.

Instead, Capt. Scott Ybarrondo offered to work with her.

Now, deputies in San Marcos are learning how to respond nonviolently to potentially aggressive dogs, through a pilot program aimed at reducing the number of animals killed by law enforcement. The training could be introduced to the department’s more than 2,200 deputies countywide by the end of the year.

“It just makes sense,” said Ybarrondo, who runs the San Marcos station. “No deputy wants to shoot a dog. It’s traumatic for these deputies. It’s very emotional.”

San Diego police are planning a similar education effort for their nearly 1,900 officers, as are police in Oceanside.

Thirty-one dogs have been fatally shot by deputies across the county since 2010, including six so far this year. In that same stretch, San Diego police have shot 22 dogs. Typically, authorities report, the dogs aren’t leashed and exhibit what officers see as aggressive behavior, appearing ready to attack. In April, for instance, a pack of three dogs attacked three people in Bay Terrace before police shot and killed the animals.

The training includes five 10-minute videos, released last year by the Department of Justice. The films teach officers to assess their environment, risk and the dog’s body language — as well as explaining how an officer’s approach can affect a dog’s behavior.

The videos are based on a 2011 publication developed under the auspices of the University of Illinois’ Center for Public Safety and Justice, Safe Humane Chicago and the National Canine Research Council, which funded the work. The federal agency’s Community Oriented Policing office backed the effort and helped distribute the information.

“Training law enforcement in this arena is critical,” said Laurel Matthews, who helped manage the project for the Department of Justice. “When this happens, it’s a tragedy. We are not saying officers should compromise safety, but by having nonlethal options, it’s a great way to reduce the number of lethal incidents.”